GEOCICHLA. 299 



Whole head, neck, breast, belly and flanks orange buff, darkest on the head 

 and albescent on the chin and throat ; vent, thighs and under tail coverts pure 

 white; back, rump, upper tail coverts, scapulars and smaller wing coverts 

 dark bluish grey ; some of the wing coverts near the edge of the wing tipped 

 white, the larger wing coverts, primaries and primary coverts dark brown, 

 exteriorly edged with ashy ; inner webs of primaries white at their bases ; under 

 wing coverts dark slate grey basally and white terminally ; the bases of 

 the secondaries and some of the primaries white on their inner webs ; two 

 centre tail feathers and most of the outside web of the remainder dark slate 

 grey, the rest dark brown ; outermost feathers generally paler at tip and 

 frequently tipped with white ; bill dark brown or horny black ; iris dark 

 hazel ; legs and feet fleshy. 



Length. 8*5 to 8'8 inches; wing 4-6; tail 3; tarsus 1-3; bill from 

 gape I- 1 



Young birds differ in having the feathers of the upper parts edged with 

 pale yellowish instead of ashy. 



Hab Throughout the whole range of the Himalayas from Nepaul to 

 Assam up to about 5,000 feet elevation, descending to the plains during 

 winter, being then found in Northern, Central and Southern India, and 

 Burmah, straying also as far south as Ceylon. Jerdon says it is found in 

 most of the forests and well-wooded districts of Northern and Central India, 

 extending rarely as low as N. lat. 16. In the neighbourhood of Calcutta it is 

 not uncommon, also at Darjeeling and in the warmer valleys in Sikkim. In 

 British Burmah, according to Gates, it is a constant resident. 



It keeps to woods and shady gardens, and, like the last, prefers bamboo 

 jungle. Like others of its kind, it feeds on the ground. It is not a shy bird* 

 and does not retreat far from villages. It is said to have a pretty song during 

 the breeding season, but otherwise is silent. The nest is usually built in the 

 forks of high trees, made of grasses, moss, stalks, and roots. Eggs, 3 to 4, 

 pale greenish, freckled with rufous, forming a patch at the larger end. Size 

 O*8 to n inch in length by 0*7 to 0*82 in breadth. 



It will be seen that Geocichla andamanensis, albogularis, and innotata are 

 not admitted in this work, these being, in my opinion, only varieties of G. citrina. 

 All agree generally in the wing formula of citrina, and the only difference 

 upon which these species have been founded is the tone of colouration of the 

 upper plumage and scarcely appreciable difference in size. Considering 

 that the autumnal and first year plumage of the majority of the species of 

 Geocichla are either quite unknown or very little known, and that the species 

 have been founded on single or two skins, it is open to doubt whether these 

 Andaman and Nicobar skins are not of birds in partial autumnal moult. 

 Presumptions cannot be tolerated in making new species. 



